Chapter 56: The Duel City Arc Begins!

Half a month later, on the nighttime streets of Domino City.

"Anzu..."

"What is it?"

Anzu stopped walking, looking at Yugi with some confusion as he suddenly spoke.

"AIBO doesn’t know about the ancient Egyptian stone tablets I saw today, the murals on them, or what that woman said. Can you not tell him?"

All day today, from before he met up with Anzu, Yami Yugi had been in control of the body.

"I don’t know, once I recover my memories, if I’ll still be able to stay with AIBO."

From those stone tablets, Yami Yugi had already deduced his true identity—he was most likely the long-deceased, nameless Pharaoh from three thousand years ago.

He didn’t know if, once his memories returned, he would still be able to stay with AIBO as he was now, to play happily with Anzu, Jounouchi, Honda, and the others.

"For now, I just don’t want AIBO to worry too much."

As he spoke, Yami Yugi opened the card case hanging from his right belt and drew out the deck he and AIBO had built together.

"This deck was built by both AIBO and me. A third of it is the crystallization of his soul! When he fully understands me, that’s when this deck will reveal its true power!"

At that moment, even if he was no longer by AIBO’s side, AIBO would be able to defeat even the strongest foes with the power of his own, and of the deck. If so, Yami Yugi could rest easy.

"Yes! That moment will definitely come," Anzu said with a smile.

"Hmm...?!"

Suddenly, Yami Yugi spun around, looking sharply behind him. The movement startled Anzu.

'How strange! Ever since a moment ago, I’ve felt a hostile gaze fixed on me!'

"Hey! Yugi!"

"Hm? Mai Valentine?!"

Hearing the voice, both turned to look in its direction—unexpectedly, it was Mai Valentine, whom they hadn’t seen since the Duelist Kingdom.

"Long time no see! How have you two been?" Mai jogged over to greet them.

"Mai, did you come back to the city for something?"

Noticing the small bag slung over her shoulder, it was obvious she’d just returned to Domino City that day.

"Eh? Don’t tell me... you two know nothing about what’s happening here?"

Mai looked at Yugi with a puzzled expression.

"No," Yugi replied. The reason he and Anzu had come to the city center at this time was entirely because the Director of the Egyptian Archaeological Bureau had said, "If you come here, you’ll open up your future."

"Actually, about a week ago, a message started spreading on the internet: ‘Duelists, gather! Come to the city where ancient duelists and the sealed cards lie sleeping!’ That’s the gist of it."

"Ancient duelists and sealed cards?!"

As Mai spoke, Yugi instantly recalled the murals he’d seen that afternoon. In the mural, the nameless Pharaoh looked remarkably like himself, with the Millennium Puzzle hanging from his chest. And across from the Pharaoh stood a high priest who looked just like Kaiba! Above their heads hovered their signature monsters—Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes White Dragon!

"The time and place for the gathering seems to be right here, at the city center of Domino City. Word is, there will be an announcement about a massive duel tournament!"

"A duel tournament?"

Hearing those words, Yugi immediately thought of the Duelist Kingdom, hosted by Pegasus just a few months ago.

"Yugi! You’ve noticed it too, haven’t you?"

"Yes! The plaza is already filled with the unique ‘fighting spirit’ of duelists!"

"Exactly! Over eighty percent of the people here are duelists who’ve come from all over the country!"

Anzu: "???"

What on earth are you two talking about?

"Look carefully—you might spot some familiar faces."

Glancing around, Anzu really did recognize a few:

"That’s... Rex Raptor! And Weevil Underwood!"

Not far from them, two boys in green outfits could be seen—one in bright green, standing on the steps with hands in his pockets, looking smug; the other in dark green, sitting with arms crossed on a nearby planter.

"Even Mako Tsunami is here! ...Ugh, he’s actually eating grilled fish by the roadside..."

Anzu also spotted Mako Tsunami, the water monster user who’d dueled both Yugi and Jou in Duelist Kingdom, but now he was sitting on a planter by the road, munching on grilled fish.

"Right! And look there! The duelist who claims to have psychic powers and can read opponents’ hands—Espa Roba!"

Following Mai’s finger, they saw a boy in a pink jacket and beige pants, with green hair, standing with eyes closed and both hands outstretched toward two younger boys who looked much like him—probably his brothers.

"I see! After hearing that message, duelists have all gathered here."

With so many familiar and unfamiliar duelists present, Mai’s story about the online message seemed highly credible.

"Yugi! Mai! Look at that!"

Before them, the plaza’s giant electronic screen, which had been showing the news, suddenly switched to display the faces of two men.

"Yugi and Kaiba?!"

That’s right! The screen was split in two: Yugi on the left, Kaiba on the right.

"Looks like they’re the ones behind the announcement."

Anyone who played Duel Monsters knew that Yugi, representing International Illusions Inc., and Kaiba, representing KaibaCorp, had joined forces.

"Attention, duelists!"

It was a live broadcast. At the sound of Kaiba’s voice, the plaza immediately fell silent.

"In one week, International Illusions Inc. and KaibaCorp will jointly host a grand duel tournament!"

As the two spoke in unison, the crowd erupted in cheers—almost everyone present was a devoted Duel Monsters player.

"This tournament, hosted by our two companies, requires participants to meet two conditions!"

The crowd pricked up their ears, but Kaiba’s next words stunned everyone.

"Prepare a deck of 40 to 60 cards, including at least one rare card! And, you must own this ‘next-generation Duel Disk’!"

As he spoke, Kaiba presented his left arm to the camera, displaying the Duel Disk developed jointly by both companies. (A bit of advertising, perhaps.)

"What’s that?"

"Is that Konami’s new product?"

"..."

Ignoring the crowd’s murmurs, Yugi—the new president of International Illusions Inc.—continued:

"This tournament will use the ‘Master Rule’ we announced two months ago. For details, please visit our official website.

"In addition to the Master Rule, this tournament will also use the ‘Ante Rule’—that is, the loser must surrender their rarest card to the winner! Of course, if the winner doesn’t want the loser’s rare card, they can choose another card they need instead."

Unlike the original anime’s ante rule, where the loser could only give their most precious rare card, Yugi, after discussing with Kaiba, had added this “winner’s choice” clause.

"Ante Rule? That’s bold, but the new clause does make it less harsh."

Listening to Kaiba, Yugi frowned in thought. If the rule was just to hand over one’s rare card, some would surely object.

Rare cards are rare for a reason—they’re precious!

Losing a duel and then having to give up a hard-won, expensive rare card—no one would be happy about that!

But with the new clause, there would be fewer complaints.

For example, a card that’s rare to me might be useless to you, as my rare card fits my deck. Instead of taking a rare card you can’t use, it’s better to swap for something you actually need. That way, there’s less conflict for both sides.

Not only Yugi—most people in the crowd understood and approved of the ante rule. If it was only "give the winner your rare card," the loser would comply, but not be happy about it.

"In summary, the champion will not only win the most rare cards, but also receive the title of the strongest duelist in Duel Monsters history—Duel King!"

"Awesome!"

"So where’s the tournament being held?"

The crowd erupted in excitement, but someone suddenly realized that neither president had revealed the venue.

As if anticipating the question, Yugi and Kaiba exchanged glances across the split screen and answered in unison:

"The stage for battle is the entire Domino City! In one week, this city will become—Duel Metropolis!"